Sponge metal is tested to cut the weight of ships by 30 percent. Researchers from Fraunhofer Institute in Chemnitz, Germany, have developed an aluminum powder that foams when heated up. The new material is lighter than water and has a high stiffness

A new material is tested to cut the weight of ships by 30 percent. For an average sized freight vessel with a capacity of 7000 m³ this corresponds to a weight reduction of more than 1000 tons. Researchers from Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology in Chemnitz, Germany, have experimented with an aluminum powder that foams when heated up

The advantages of changing from roads to rivers wherever it is possible are obvious: a ship can take much more payload and wouldn’t cause extra traffic on the roads. The use of a new material could even make ships greener

Diesel engines used on ships are among the dirtiest in the world. Now a new type of propulsion system could make marine travel much greener. European coastlines will profit from this research by CORINNA LUECKE (Jan. 11)

A new application of Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) has been developed by the European-funded MC WAP research project to be eventually used as an alternative power supply for ships. This will be cleaner and avoid the pollution of the marine diesel engines which currently provide the power in the vast majority of the world’s ships

The current oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico shows again how dangerous oil exploitation and oil transport can be: no reliable system exists to capture the oil at its source before it reaches the surface. But scientists recently came up with a remarkable solution which is easy to apply and effective - no matter if the oil spill origins from an open well or a sunken tanker

Dr Fivos Andritsos of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission has come up with an innovative solution to deal with oil spills that could be adapted not only to shipwrecks but also to oil-well blowouts

The DIFIS structure was then tested in extreme storm conditions simulating waves twelve meters high. Below the water, the buffer bell and the dome hardly moved. The installation of the whole structure remains the real challenge

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